


It's Where My Demons Hide (It's Where My Demons Are)

by griffiee



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Summaries, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro, Stucky - Freeform, Wakanda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 10:02:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15240975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/griffiee/pseuds/griffiee
Summary: Bucky and Steve keep getting hurt on missions and don't talk to each other about it.





	It's Where My Demons Hide (It's Where My Demons Are)

**Author's Note:**

> So I suck at writing angst, but, hey, have this attempt.

Steve and Bucky had been inseparable since they were children, but lately things had been a little rough. With Steve going on missions every week and Bucky staying in Wakanda, the two had practically never seen each other. Which meant Steve was miserable. Not seeing his best guy was truly bringing his mood down, and it was starting to show at Stark Tower.

"No coffee again this morning?" Sam asked, sitting down across from Steve.

Steve scrubbed his hand over his face, looking up from his newspaper. "Have you-"

"Heard anything from Wakanda?" he finished, raising his eyebrows, "Just go, Steve. We won't miss you for a while."

"But what if something happens?" 

Sam leaned over and squeezed his shoulder. "We'll be just fine without you. And if there is an emergency that bad, I promise we'll call you."

And thus not an hour later, Steve was on a flight to Wakanda to surprise Bucky. The flight wasn't long, and, once he arrived there, he was greeted by T'Challa and Shuri.

"Captain, so nice of you to visit," T'Challa greeted, leading him into the palace.

Steve let a small smile grace his face. "Please call me Steve, your majesty."

The other man chuckled. "Then I insist you call me T'Challa as well."

"Does he know I'm here?" Steve asked, nervously rubbing his hands together. 

Shuri smiled. "The White Wolf has no idea you'll be here. Come with me, I'll lead you to his hut."

T'Challa nodded for him to go. "Enjoy your stay, Steve. You're welcome to stay as long as you like."

Shuri led him to a hut seemingly away from everything, excitedly chatting about his visit the whole way. Steve politely nodded his head and smiled, but all he could focus on was getting to see his best friend again. As soon as he saw Bucky, though, he stopped listening entirely. Bucky's hair had grown out and he had a shawl cradling his lost arm so people wouldn't stare as much. His face lit up as soon as he saw Steve, and they began speeding up, practically jogging towards each other. When they finally reached each other, they grasped each other in a tight hug. 

"Steve," Bucky breathed, squeezing him tightly, "No one told me you were visiting."

Steve pulled away, his smile blinding. "I wanted to surprise you."

Bucky squeezed his shoulder. "Consider me surprised."

Shuri finally caught up to them, grinning. "Well, have fun on your visit. As my brother said, you are welcome to stay as long as you like."

Steve nodded as she walked away. "Thank you, Shuri."

Bucky grabbed his hand after she was gone, pulling him into his hut. "Come on, I have so much to show you."

Unfortunately, not three hours later, Steve got a call from Sam. 

"I'm sorry, Cap," Sam began, "But there's an emergency in downtown Detroit. We need you here now."

"Sam, I just got settled," Steve complained, pausing in his stroking of Bucky's hair. 

Bucky sat up, his brow furrowed. "Steve..."

Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'll use Wakandan technology and be there in less than an hour." 

He set his phone down and turned to Bucky. "I'm sorry, Buck. They need me."

Bucky nodded in understanding. "You just got here. Maybe you could come back here afterwards?"

Steve smiled a tiny bit. "Yeah, I'll come back."

Bucky pulled him close, kissing him suddenly. Steve's eyes widened in shock, but he wrapped his arms tightly around Bucky and pulled him close.

"What was that for?" Steve asked, breathless.

"I wanted you to have a reason to come back," Bucky breathed, brushing their noses together. 

Steve blushed slightly. "I'll be back, Buck. Promise."

Steve lived up to that promise because not three weeks later he was back. 

"Steve," Bucky hissed when he walked up to his hut, "What the hell took so long?!"

Steve grimaced, setting his bag down inside the door. "Nothing, Buck. I'm fine."

"You're not fine! There's scars all over you! You can barely walk!" 

"I'm fine!" Steve barked, "Leave it alone, Bucky!"

Bucky crossed his arms and glared at him, which caused Steve to soften. 

"Seriously, I'm alright." Steve kissed his forehead, tucking a stray piece of hair behind his ear.

Bucky sighed. "Okay, I've got water running if you want to take a bath."

Steve nodded and pulled his shirt off, unconsciously revealing a new scar over his abs. The word "weak" looked like it had been carved into his skin, just recently scarred over. 

Bucky pursed his lips. "Hey, Steve?"

"Yeah?" Steve looked back over his shoulder.

"I'm gonna take over for you for a few weeks, alright?" he asked.

Steve nodded. "Thanks, Buck."

Which is how they ended up with Bucky having to leave for a mission a week later, metal arm and everything. 

"You have a com, Steve," he reminded, "You'll be able to here the whole mission."

Steve nodded, giving him a quick kiss. "Good luck."

Not two hours later, Steve was sitting on the bed and listening intently to the coms.

_"Somebody cover Banner!" Tony yelled, "The big guy isn't coming out to play!"_

_"I've got him!" Natasha shouted, "Clint, cover Thor for me!"_

_"Wait!" Bruce yelled, "Who's covering Barnes?"_

_"Barnes, are you alright out there?!" Tony barked, "Barnes!"_

_"Bucky, how are you doing out there?" Sam shouted._

_"There's too many of them!" Bucky answered, "I've been compromised!"_

_"Barnes! Barnes, get out of here!" Clint ordered, "Tony, they took Barnes!"_

_"Everyone get out of here!" Tony called, "Meet me back at the tower. And for the love of god, somebody turn Cap's com off so he doesn't kill me!"_

And that was the last thing Steve heard for a month. Shuri wouldn't even let him leave the hut. So when Bucky finally showed up at the door, it took all Steve had not to squeeze the life out of him. 

"God, Bucky, what happened?" Steve asked, pulling away slightly to check for injuries, "I didn't hear anything after they took you. Were you guys fighting Hydra again?"

Bucky didn't answer him, but the look on his face said it all. "I'm just gonna go to bed, Steve."

Steve's brows furrowed in concern, but he followed Bucky into the bed. When he went to wrap his arms around him, Bucky pulled away and curled in on himself. Steve sighed but decided to let him be for the night. When he awoke the next morning, Bucky was already in his makeshift kitchen and making breakfast. Steve stepped in behind him and wrapped his arms around him. Bucky pulled away and Steve let out a deep breath. 

This went on for a few days, until Steve finally broke. "What the hell, Bucky?! You come back from a mission and don't talk to me about it and now suddenly you can't bear to be near me! What's going on?!"

"Me?" Bucky sputtered, "You came back from a mission two months ago, and I still don't know what happened! Hell, there's a huge scar on your stomach that you won't even talk about!"

"You have scars you won't talk about too!" Steve pointed out, "I saw your leg last night! Who carved 'traitor' into your skin?"

Bucky paused in his making breakfast. "Hydra take you too?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah, Buck, they did. They tied me up and shocked me, then cut me up a bit."

Bucky turned around and looked at him carefully. "They tried to turn me back into the Winter Soldier. When that didn't work, they declared me a Hydra traitor, hence the scar on my leg."

"Why didn't you talk to me about it, Buck?"

He looked at his feet. "I didn't want you to think that there was even a slight chance I'd become the soldier again. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to see me as that weak kid back in Brooklyn again," Steve admitted.

"I never saw you as weak, Steve," Bucky promised, kissing his forehead and pulling him close, "You've always been a badass to me."

Steve smiled, taking his hand. "Come on, Buck, let's go for a walk."

"I hope neither of us get called in for a mission," Bucky half-joked.

Steve squeezed his hand. "I got a promise that they won't call us in for a few months, no matter what. We get a break, Buck."

Bucky smiled softly at him. "Some peace before the end of the world, huh?"

Steve laughed quietly. "Yeah, Buck. Exactly that."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow me on Instagram @emilygriffin.books if you want


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